Ethiopian Empire (A Different History)
The Ethiopian Empire, also officially known as Ethiopia, is a country located in East Africa and the continent of Australia. It is one of the two most powerful African states, and is only rivaled by the United Arab Republic (UAR) in the north. It is also one of three states which is a nuclear power, but is not a signatary to the Nuclear Power Treaty (NPT). The Ethiopian Empire borders the United Arab Republic to the north, Sudan to the northwest, the West African Federation and the People's Republic of the Congo to the west, the Red Sea to the northeast, the United States of South Africa to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the east. At 10,801,787 square kilometres (4,170,009 sq mi) and with a population of over 395 million people, it is the second largest country on the continent by total area, and the fourth largest by population. It is one of the two African superpowers, and has the largest and most powerful military force in Africa. The Ethiopian economy is the second largest national economy in Africa, and one of the largest in the world with an nominal GDP estimated to be over $10 trillion. History Arrival of Europeans In 1508 the Portuguese government established permanent relations with the Ethiopian government under Emperor Lebna Dengel. After meeting with the Portuguese ambassador he had a dream in which Jesus, The Prophet Muhammad and Elijah appeared to him, They showed him an image of Ethiopia with a European flag flying over the capital. Fueled by rage when he awoke he set up plans to deal with the inevitable future. He bought thousands of modern weapons from the Portuguese government and hired European mercenaries to reorganize the Ethiopia army. By 1635 he had an army that was as well equipped as the smaller European nations and had a Regular army the style of which wouldn't be seen anywhere elsewhere for another hundred and fifty years. Expansion In 1739 Iyasu II organized a meeting with several Tribal leaders who ruled over the areas immediately surrounding Ethiopia in order to make them swear Allegiance to his crown. However some Tribal leaders refused to bow to his authority and fought against him. They were utterly destroyed by the Imperial Army, later analysts would compare it to the European conquests of Africa as it involved a technologialy and military superior nation crushing a group of unorganised tribes. In 1845 Jesus, The Prophet Muhammad and Elijah apeared to Emperor Yohannes III in a dream. The story of their appearance to Lebna Dengel had been written in the Book of the Emperors which was a chronicle of personal things that each Emperor thought should be passed on to his successors. Yohannes III was told by them to do three thing's, The first was to insure that he had access to the coast through the east, to ensure that all three were respected by his people and to modernize his army and navy. They warned him that if he failed to this his Empire would fall to powers which would treat his people badly. As a result of this the Ethiopian Army launched a major offensive against the tribes to the south east of Ethiopia. The Armies offensive was increadibly sucesful and the first part of the armies offensive reached the coast in the spring of 1850 just four months after it started. After this show of force the tribes in the area surrendered and agreed to pledge their aligence to the Ethiopian Emperor. From 1850 to the war with the Mahdists in South Sudan the Emperor hired European and Ethiopian shipbuilders and mechanics to improve the equipment used by the Imperial Army and Navy. By the 1880's the Imperial Army was well-equiped with rifles and artillery while the Imperial Navy had a fleet of eight modern battleships, ten cruisers, fifteen destroyers and twenty frigates although most of these were reaching the end of thier lives and the rifles and artilery used by the army were becoming outdated. Australian Colonies Sudanese Colonies The Mahdist regime took control of Sudan in 1881 and began fighting the Ottoman rulers of Sudan and Egypt. The Ethiopian Empire ignored most of this fighting until the Ottomans sent a large force to the south of Sudan. Then the Empire intervened to protect its intrests in the region, Imperial Army troops launched a large campaign in oposistion to both the Mahdists and the Ottomans. This diversion allowed the Mahdists to consolidate their gains in the west while the Ottomans took control of the North and it allowed the Empire to gain control of the southeast. Wars with Europe Italy First World War Second World War North African Wars Suez Crisis In the Aftermath of the Second World War, Abdel Nasser took control of Egypt in a coup and nationalised the Suez Cannal. The European powers decided to interveen and launched a major offensive campaign against Nassers government, The Ethiopian Empire was worried that the anti-monarchist sentiment could spread south into Ethiopia and the other members of the East African Alliance. The European governments aproached Ethiopia to gain its support for their operation which they gladly gave. Therefore the Imperial Army launched a major offensive operation in the spring of 1951. The Egyptians were concentrating on the threat from the Europeans to the North so the Imperial Army marched practicly unuposed up the Nile and into Cairo. The Egyptian Army atempted to launch a desperate counter attack against Imperial Forces for Alexandria but by using Air Power to their advantage the Ethiopians and Europeans bombed the Egyptian army into submision while the diplomats thrashed out a peace deal. In the eventual deal the Egyptians had to give up all of Sudan except the far north and also had to agree to European control of the canal. First North African War In 1964 the UAR was formed out of the North Sudanese state of Nubia and the Egyptian Republic. While the Ethiopian government wasn't concerned by this developement they had war forced uppon them when the UAR declared war on Libya, one of Ethiopia's allies and a member of the United People of God. This time though the Egyptians were ready for them and the Imperial Army was forced on the defensive as Egyptian armoured units made thier way to Addis Ababa in force. The Imperial army launched a major counter attack but was defeated once again. Unfortunately for the UAR's troops Ethiopia had spent many years and billions of Birr on the developement of nuclear weapons. As the UAR's forces moved closer to Addis Ababa debate over thier use grew and on June the 24th 1965 a nuclear weapon was detonated over the Arabian forces wiping them out. Although the use of weapons was condemed by UN they were powerless to atop Ethiopia and once again Ethiopian troops were in Cairo. However the Arabians were allowed to keep parts of Libya and there was no teritorial concesions forced upon them. Second North African War In 1989 war broke out again between Ethiopia and the UAR, for once Ethiopia was the aggressor and launched a major offensive against the UAR bassed on Inteligence that sugested that the Arabian government was developing nuclear weapons. Imperial Air force bombers attacked Arabian weapons depots in force and armoured and mechanised forces launched a major attack against the Arabians. In the tradition of several Ethiopia-Arabian Wars the Imperial Army made several gains quickly against the Arabians and although the Arabians made several last ditch atempts to stop the Ethiopians with Infantry and 1989 ended yet again with Ethiopian troops in Cairo. Modern Day Since the second North African war Ethiopia has established itself as the only major superpower in Africa. Although it and the UAR still rival each other Ethiopia still has its dominance and even challenges other superpowers like the Mughal Empire. Recently however the UAR has began to make overt support for the Persian terorists. This has caused greater tensions with Ethiopia and many believe that if the crisis in the Middle East continues the Third North African War is inevitable but with Ethiopia as strong as ever there is little doubt in most minds over who would win. Government Ethiopia is a constitutional monarchy headed by the Emperor who listens to the advice of the Council of Advisors. The Council is made up of elected members from each of Ethiopias Tribal groups with the larger groups being subdevided into clans to help prevent a monopoly by a single tribe. Elections are held every four to five years and there are 400 seats on the Council. The elected members are normaly part of one of Ethiopias three major parties and the largest party forms the government which then tells the emperor what laws to enact. The current Emperor is Zera Yacob and the Prime Minister is Mwai Kibaki who leads the Religious Unity Party with the oposistion being headed by the Imperial Party and the Communist Party. Military Main article: Imperial Ethiopian Armed Forces Ethiopia has one of the six most powerful military forces in the world and the most powerful in Africa. It has a powerful navy and air force and its army is vast and well-equiped and trained. The Imperial Ethiopian Armed Forces have seen conflict in North Africa several times against the UAR and has also fought in Post-Colonial conflicts in Australia and South East Asia. Media There is a strong Independent news base in Ethiopia as well as a few government backed TV stations. The African Star and The Times are the primary newspapers with the TV being dominated by the African News Corp and the News chanels are dominated by the government backed IBC. Education Sport Economy Category:Nations (A Different History) Category:A Different History Category:Africa (A Different History)